Chapter Text
Day 4 of Camping
{Kaoru’s Point of View}
“I’m bored!” Kokoro’s chipper voice exclaimed, with a sigh, “I want to do something fun that’ll make me smile.”
It was the morning of their fourth day in the cabin. Everyone had been busy eating breakfast, while Kokoro seemed a little less uppity.
“Eh, why don’t you just swim again? Kanon said she wanted to swim earlier this morning.” Misaki said, picking up several plates from the table.
“It’s not as warm out today, and we swam two days ago! I want to do something different and fun!” Kokoro said, standing up and stretching a bit.
Misaki let out a loud sigh, “You’re the kind of person who can’t do the same fun thing twice, huh?” She walked into the kitchen to help the suits who were washing the breakfast dishes.
Misaki, who was usually in a much grumpier mood during breakfast, seemed to be a little less irritable today. That was a good thing? Right?
Yesterday had been an absolute whirlwind for Kaoru. It’s like the beginning of the day hadn’t even existed, sure she went on a hike and messed around with the others. But the afternoon far exceeded anything that happened before it. She kissed Misaki again. Was it a win for her, she didn’t know but she was happy it happened. While she hadn’t gotten the chance to talk to Misaki much, she felt that a huge weight had been lifted off of her chest. She didn’t know what to do with this excitement though. Tell Chisato or something? She didn’t want to bother Chisato, as she was a very busy woman. Misaki had slept for the rest of that day, and begrudgingly ate some food after getting up for thirty minutes.
“Why don’t we all brainstorm for fun things to do then, Kokoro? I’m sure five minds could come up with one fitting idea.” Kaoru suggested, watching a suit pick up her plate.
“Y-Yeah, that works, I agree with Kaoru. I want to swim for a bit and then maybe in an hour we could all come together with ideas.” Kanon said, standing up as well.
Hagumi responded with a nod, “Uh-huh! Kokoron, doesn’t that work? We could go to your room and write down some fun stuff to do!”
Kokoro’s face lit up with a big smile, “Yes! That works perfectly! We have one hour to come up with ideas, let's go!”
And with that the four others took off in pairs. Kokoro and Hagumi ran in the direction of Kokoro’s room, while Misaki and Kanon walked in the direction of the living room. Kaoru decided she should go grab a book to read and brainstorm or something.
Don’t get her wrong, it wasn’t like she was avoiding Misaki or anything. She felt a lot less awkward now that the two had cleared up their feelings on the first night. Her head of course continued to stir with endless notions of Misaki but, she knew that Misaki hadn’t decided what to do with this newfound information. Misaki had told her that she couldn’t give Kaoru a fully romantic and justified, ‘I love you.’ This was something Kaoru could understand, Misaki wasn’t the kind of person to just decide she wanted to be with someone forever, and Kaoru didn’t know for sure if she could give Misaki a one hundred percent truthful, ‘I love you.’
Such a strong few words that she sometimes just carelessly threw around. Everyone throws them around some point in their life, but when someone uses those words truthfully, the power they could have. Did she really love Misaki? Yes, she did, but she couldn’t tell Misaki that truthfully unless she knew how Misaki felt. She didn’t want to hurt Misaki if that made sense. If Misaki was going to be negatively affected by this new wave of admiration Kaoru had for her… then it wasn’t worth it. The last thing she wanted to do was make Misaki feel bad.
Kaoru opened the door to her room, a rush of cool air hitting her face. She really had let the air conditioner blast yesterday, it had been one of the hottest days of summer so far. Not that she disliked the heat, she actually preferred it over winter weather. Kaoru grabbed the book she had brought along, ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream.’
It was one of her favorite Shakespearian plays, she had always hoped to perform it someday. They usually did Shakespeare for their performances in the Drama Club, but with the plethora of plays they could perform they had never considered, ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream.’
Kaoru sat down on her bed and opened up the book. After reading a few pages, she felt uncomfortable. Not with the writing, but with where she was reading it. The pillows were lumpy and the lighting was all wrong, maybe she should find a place out in the light.
Kaoru stood up and made her way to the lounge room. Kanon and Misaki were no longer occupying it so she would have some peace and quiet. She sat for a few minutes on the beige couch in the lounge room. The couch was fine, but it was a lighting issue again, there wasn’t enough good light filtering into the room. This usually wasn’t an issue for her but today she had to find the perfect reading spot.
Kaoru walked out onto the large wooden balcony that was connected to the kitchen. There was a good amount of light on the balcony, the sun filtering through the trees but the chairs on the balcony had disappeared for no apparent reason.
“Th-Thank you Misaki, ah! The water’s cold!” Kanon’s voice could be heard near the balcony.
Ah, the pool. Kanon and Misaki had been discussing going for a morning swim. The pool was close to the balcony so Kaoru could see the two. Kanon was in her swimsuit and was wading into the water, hugging a large inflatable jellyfish. Misaki wasn’t in any swimming attire, perhaps she was planning on watching Kanon swim around? There were lounge chairs down near the pool, it wouldn’t be a huge deal if she were to read there, right?
Kaoru made a final decision to go and read near the pool, what’s the harm in that? She walked down the small flight of stairs to the pool, and made her presence known, “Ah, hello you two! Going for a swim I see.”
“O-Oh! Kaoru! Hello.” Kanon said, almost slipping off of the jellyfish inflatable, yet she smiled.
Misaki turned her gaze to Kaoru, “Hello, Kaoru. Are you going to swim too?”
“No, no. I was just planning on sitting near the pool in reading. The light indoors isn’t doing me much of a service.” Kaoru said, pointing at the lounge chairs.
“Mm, yeah the pool does have pretty good lighting. You can come sit next to me if you want to.” Misaki said, standing up and walking to the chairs.
Kaoru nodded, and did so. Kanon continued to float around on the jellyfish inflatable, she was reading some brochure and kicking her legs lazily in the water. Misaki was switching between watching Kanon and looking at her phone. Besides the small splashing sounds of water and the cicadas buzzing about, everything around the three was quiet.
“What’re you reading?” Misaki broke the silence after a few minutes, the brunette’s gaze was on her once again.
Kaoru looked up from her book, “A Midsummer’s Night Dream, it’s one of my favorite pieces of the bard’s literature. I’m assuming you’ve never read it?”
“Oh, no. Shakespeare has always been kind of complicated for me to read, they talk way different than we do now.” Misaki said, peering over Kaoru’s shoulder, she had gotten up from her seat at this point.
“Yes, it can be quite confusing when first reading a Shakespearean text. I’d suggest that you look for copies that have page side by side modernized translations. That’s how I started off reading them.” Kaoru said, watching Misaki read over the page she was on.
“They make that kind of stuff?” Misaki asked, glancing over at Kaoru’s face.
“Yes, they’re helpful when I’m performing plays as well. That way I can know what kind of emotion to display.”
Misaki gave a shaky laugh, “I can’t even imagine memorizing one of these. You really are impressive when it comes to performing Kaoru.”
Kaoru smiled at the compliment, “When it comes to something you love the memorization comes easily. It’s the same with how you write our songs, Kokoro hums out the songs and you turn them into lyrics. That’s something I can’t imagine doing on instinct. You’re impressive as well, Misaki.”
“Ah- it’s not that impressive-” Misaki started.
“Oh! Misaki! I found the waterfall I was thinking of-” Kanon cut in, silencing what Misaki was saying before, “A-Ah sorry. Were you guys talking? I didn’t realize.” Kanon looked worried, but she had apparently found something in the brochure she had been browsing.
“It’s fine Kanon, don’t worry. You found it?” Misaki said, walking away from Kaoru’s chair.
Kanon nodded, “If we drive over a few miles there’s a hiking trail, about two miles long. It leads to a small waterfall and apparently has a pretty view over the forest.” Kanon said, pointing to a picture in the brochure.
“Yeah, that would work. I could drive us over there if Kokoro wants to hike…” Misaki’s attention went from the brochure to Kaoru, “Hey, Kaoru. Do you want to suggest going on a hike to a waterfall nearby or something?”
Kaoru stood up, intrigued by this waterfall the two kept mentioning. She walked over and took a look at this brochure, there was a photo of a waterfall and a map out on display. It wasn’t far away and Kaoru had nothing better to do, “This seems like a lovely idea, I couldn’t think of much to do anyways.”
Kanon smiled, “Y-Yeah! I’ll suggest when we all get together. How long do we have until Kokoro wants to meet up, Misaki?”
Misaki pulled her phone out of her short’s back pocket and turned it on, “Only five minutes. I didn’t realize we were out for that long.”
Kanon grabbed the side of the pool wall, “I should probably get out then. I wonder what kind of ideas Kokoro and Hagumi came up with.”
“Probably something we would never come up with. Kokoro will say something like, ‘We should fly to the Southern Islands and have a barbeque next to a volcano since the blood moon is today,’ and we’ll all be surprised. And of course we’ll probably have to do it since their family surely has enough money to suddenly fly us out.” Misaki said, with a small laugh.
Kanon laughed as well, “You’re funny Misaki. I’m going to go dry off inside. Are you coming?”
“Yep. C’mon Kaoru.” Misaki said, gesturing for Kaoru to walk with them. Had fifty five minutes really passed since breakfast? She had gotten a lot of reading done, so it didn’t seem unreasonable. Guess the saying time flies when you’re having fun is true.
Kaoru followed the two back into the cabin. Kanon quickly went to change, and Misaki continued to lead Kaoru to the lounge room. There, waiting for them was Kokoro and Hagumi who were furiously writing down ideas that had just suddenly come to them.
“Mii-Kun! Kaoru-Kun! Hi! You guys are three minutes early!” Hagumi said, looking up from the notepad.
“Fufu, well you know what they say about being early. Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable.” Kaoru said, smiling at the two.
“I’ve never heard anyone say that.” Misaki said, flopping down in a free chair, “Kanon is changing, she’ll be here soon and then we can start.”
“Mm-hmm! Sounds good! Hagumi and I came up with lots of good ideas so we hope you’ll like them!”
The four waited for a few minutes until Kanon came running into the lounge room, “S-Sorry I’m late- this cabin is so confusing to navigate around.” Kanon said, her face displaying her normal worrying expression.
“It’s a-ok, Kano-Chan-Senpai! It’s not like we’re on a tight schedule! Should we start then, Kokoron?” Hagumi said, piping up.
Kanon ran to sit next to Misaki, which was a good idea considering the kind of ideas Kokoro came up with.
“Alright! Hagumi and I came up with all kinds of ideas! Should we start with our top five?” Kokoro asked, glancing over at Hagumi.
Hagumi nodded, “Okay! Idea number one! We should fly to the Southern Islands and have a barbeque next to a volcano since the blood moon is today!”
And with that comment you could visibly see Misaki’s faith in humanity slowly start to dwindle again.
“H-Huuuh? D-Doesn’t that seem a little unreasonable to you guys?” Kanon said, grabbing Misaki’s shoulders, keeping her from dropping on the floor with disbelief.
Kokoro tilted her head to the side, “Mm? No. I’m sure my parents could send a helicopter over.”
“A-Ah- No- Let’s not forget that Kaoru is afraid of heights. A helicopter flight would be bad for her right?” Misaki said, regaining her composure, trying to come up with an excuse to not suddenly fly out to the tropics.
Kaoru then noticed Misaki glancing at her, oh she wanted her to agree, “Yes, it would be preferable if we could do an activity a little closer to the ground. Though, it is a lovely idea Kokoro.”
“That’s fine! We have four more to go anyways! Alright second idea! We should go find a swamp and pet the fishies there because they don’t get enough attention from normal people! And to do this, we will get a big submarine and swim through the sludge to see the fish!”
And with the long and loud sigh from Misaki, Kaoru prepared herself for the onslaught of strange yet wonderful ideas from Kokoro.
-----
After much debating over why Kokoro and Hagumi couldn’t start a bakery in the woods for deer and give them croquettes, Misaki and Kanon had finally convinced the group on the hike to the waterfall. Kaoru was glad the two got to go hiking to the waterfall, and they had agreed they could do something fun later that didn’t involve hiking.
“Make sure to pack a lot of water. Kanon told me that you two leeched off of her water when you all went hiking without me.” Misaki instructed, packing up some food into the trunk of the now fixed car they had previously taken to the cabin. Apparently there hadn’t been any gas in the car and the meter display had just malfunctioned… whatever that meant. Kaoru didn’t speak car language.
“Yeah! But I wanted enough space for my bass!” Hagumi said, stuffing a few bottles of water into a small black and orange bag.
“Why- I’m not going to ask why you took your bass on a hike. I should’ve expected that. Mmm, Okay is everyone ready. The drive should take like fifteen minutes if I put on a GPS.” Misaki said, shutting the trunk.
A chorus of affirmations rang from everyone as they loaded into the car. Kanon sat up front with Misaki, because she knew where the waterfall was. Kokoro and Hagumi proceeded to scootch into the back seat of the car making just enough room for Kaoru.
Misaki turned on the GPS and they drove in silence to the waterfall. Kaoru stared out the window, watching the trees on the side of the road pass by. Sitting in silence wasn’t always a bad thing, she had quickly learned at the start of high school. Her life had quickly turned into something of a play, she was always doing stuff which wasn’t a bad thing. She liked living in the moment, which was probably why she had an interest in Misaki. If it wasn’t for Kokoro’s sudden interest in Michelle, Misaki wouldn’t be involved in the band. Misaki was the kind of person who liked to let the world pass by and stay content with what she had. Kaoru was always trying to impress everyone and be involved the best she could, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to say that the two had completely different mentalities when it came to taking action.
That’s why Misaki was interesting, she didn’t want to be in the spotlight, she didn’t run towards that kind of thing. Misaki just let the world continue and went with the flow, something she couldn’t imagine doing. The saying opposites attract could be somewhat true, Kaoru guessed. When someone is doing something entirely different than you, what’s the harm in being intrigued?
Kaoru felt the car stop as they pulled up into a dusty parking lot. Trees surrounded the empty lot and a path could be seen streaming upwards into the forest.
“We’re here. Let’s get hiking before the sun decides to cook us alive.” Misaki said, opening her car door.
It was actually a decent temperature, but you could tell that this was the coolest it was going to get all day. The whole week had been a series of heat waves, while none of the past days had compared to yesterday, it was best to get hiking done early in the day. Kaoru shouldered the small bag she had hauled along for the ride and followed the other four out of the car.
-----
And so the hiking started, what the five hadn’t expected on this hike that it was surprisingly uphill. While Kokoro and Hagumi happily lead the group, Misaki was making sure Kanon, who was lagging behind, stayed with the group. Otherwise the hike was going well, the trees offered a good amount of shade, and a breeze was rolling in.
“I’m so excited to see the waterfall! Are you excited Kokoron?” Hagumi asked, linking arms with the equally chipper blonde.
Kokoro nodded excitedly, “Yeah, I am! I’ve always wanted to go to a real waterfall! I wonder if there will be animals!”
Hagumi tilted her head to the side, “Really? I thought your family owned this cabin.”
“Well they do, but the cabin was always being taken up by other family members so they could do business and stuff. But now I have all of you guys to share the cabin with for a week! So I’ve never really been up here much.”
“Ah, so your family uses the cabin to work alone. What kind of work does your family do anyways, Kokoro?” Kaoru asked, keeping pace with Kokoro and Hagumi.
“Oh. I don’t know. My parents don’t really talk about work with me. But that’s not important, we have to figure out something else to do tonight!” Kokoro said, dismissing Kaoru’s question.
“Eh? Isn’t this enough?” Misaki asked, her and Kanon catching up to the group.
“You promised we could do something else Mii-Kun! Don’t deny it, we have three other witnesses!”
Misaki sighed, “Yeah, I know. Can we try not to do something super excessive? I don’t want to clean up another mess.”
“W-Well, while we’re hiking, why don’t we come up with some ideas? Something fun for everyone but not too excessive for Misaki?” Kanon suggested.
“What a good idea Kanon! I agree, let’s brainstorm some ideas!” Kaoru said, seconding Kanon’s idea.
“Mmm- okay! I’ll go first! I wanna go bungee jumping!” Kokoro said, raising an arm into the air.
“Wh-What- Kokoro- No, that sounds scary…” Kanon said, realizing that this plan had already gone down hill.
“Oh? I guess you’re right, what to do then? What to do?” Kokoro said, placing her formerly raised hand onto her chin.
“Why don’t we do something normal, like have a campfire and have s’mores? We haven’t done an actual cookout yet.” Misaki suggested, looking to the side of the trail.
Kokoro turned around to face Misaki, “S’mores? I’ve never had s’mores before, I want to do that! We should have dinner and s’mores over a campfire tonight! You’re so smart Misaki!”
“Yeah! That sounds fun! I haven’t had s’mores in forever. What if we lit fireworks too that night! That’d be so fun!” Hagumi chimed in.
“A-Ah no- we can’t light fireworks you two- it's a fire hazard… and we’re in the woods.” Misaki said, quickly dismissing the idea of a fireworks show.
Hagumi frowned a bit, “Mii-Kun is right… Hmm… what if we lit sparklers instead? Those are small and won’t cause fires!”
Misaki paused, “That could work, wouldn’t we have to drive off to town to get them though?”
“If my memory serves me correct, there was a shed with fireworks and sparklers you mentioned, right Kokoro?A shed for random appliances that could be useful?” Kaoru asked, recalling the first tour she had of the cabin.
“Uh-huh! There’s bound to be some sparklers in there if we look hard enough! That sounds like a good plan! We’re great planners!” Kokoro said, energetic as usual.
Kokoro and Hagumi continued to sputter on about sparklers and s’mores for about ten minutes while they traversed across the trail.
Hagumi who was in the middle of talking about how sparklers were pretty turned her head towards the trail head, “Oh! We’re at the waterfall! There’s a sign ahead that says so!”
“Huh? Really? Let’s run to it! C’mon I want to see the waterfall now!” Kokoro said, excitedly.
“Good idea Kokoron!” Hagumi said, turning back to the other three, “Want to run with us, Kano-Chan-Senpai?” Hagumi asked, grabbing Kanon’s two hands.
“H-Huuuh? Ah- maybe I don’t know- Hagumi!” Kanon stammered as she was pulled on ahead the trail.
The sudden movements from the energetic duo and Kanon caused a slip up in the gravel ahead. Kaoru’s glance luckily caught Misaki stumbling on the disheveled gravel and grabbed the brunette’s hand.
“Are you okay, Misaki?” Kaoru said, trying to steady Misaki.
Misaki regained her footing, her hand clinging onto Kaoru’s, “Ah- Thank you Kaoru- Sorry I slipped…”
“It’s no problem, I always am here to help little kittens in need.” Kaoru said, her hand still firmly grasped in Misaki’s.
Kaoru then felt the power of the thing we call, an awkward amount of silence. Kokoro, Hagumi, and Kanon were up ahead on the trail, and not paying attention to the two. That was probably why the energy was so awkward. Why did Kaoru assume before that things wouldn’t be awkward between the two even after they cleared some stuff up. She did technically make out with Misaki yesterday, of course things would be awkward.
“Ah… we should keep heading up to the waterfall. Kanon’s gonna get worried if we don’t get up there soon.” Misaki said, avoiding eye contact. It might have been the lighting or a trace of sunburn, but Kaoru swore she saw the other girl blush.
“Yes I agree, we should bask in the glory of the said waterfall. I’m excited to see what beauty the natural wonder has to offer for us.” Kaoru said, keeping her eyes on the trail.
Misaki nodded, and to Kaoru’s surprise, didn’t let go of her hand. The reassurance of Misaki’s grasp didn’t make Kaoru upset or flustered, it just made her feel safe. So she didn’t mind it, they were in such a secluded spot it almost felt romantic.
Misaki led the way up the trail until they made their way to the waterfall. The waterfall was in fact beautiful, a natural wonder. It was strange how the simple action of water falling from a high place was mesmerizing to humans.
Kokoro, Kanon, and Hagumi were already messing around in the slow running river that was next to them. Well more or less, Kokoro and Hagumi were splashing around while Kanon was in the middle of them.
“It’s lovely, don’t you agree?” Kaoru said, looking down at Misaki, who was in the process of staring at the waterfall.
“Yeah it is, I’m glad we came up here. Might take a few photos for my family.” Misaki said, glancing up at Kaoru.
“I should too, I have yet to capture moments of the trip for my parents to see…” Kaoru said, nodding in thought, “Are you excited for the events planned this evening?”
Misaki tilted her head to the side, “Yeah, I am. I haven’t roasted food over a campfire in a while. I just hope Kokoro and Hagumi don’t try touching the fire or something.” Misaki said, a small laugh mixed into a sigh.
“I’ve never actually gone camping. I guess this doesn’t qualify, but I’m excited for it as well.”
“Huh? Really? My Dad used to love camping, I usually disliked it because the food was always bad. But s’mores are fun, I’m sure you’ll like it.” Misaki said, redirecting her glance back to Kokoro and the others.
“Hey!! You two!! What’re you doing over there by yourselves? Come play with us!” Kokoro’s high voice yelled, from the stream. The blonde was currently knee deep in the river’s water, she was surrounded by Kanon and Hagumi who were also wading in the water.
Kaoru felt Misaki let go of her hand quickly, “Ah, yes! Let us come play, we were just talking.” Kaoru said, quickly noticing Misaki’s embarrassment. Misaki didn’t seem like one for PDA, no matter how little it seemed. Kaoru respected that and wanted to make Misaki feel comfortable.
“Yeah, just talking. We’re coming, don’t get too soaked or you’re gonna be cold on the way back to the cabin.” Misaki said, setting down her backpack on the soft grass that lined the trailhead.
Kaoru set down her bag as well and walked over to the other three. Despite Misaki’s words Kokoro and Hagumi’s clothes were already soaked, while Kanon had a decent amount of water left on her shorts and shirt from the two’s constant splashing around.
“Kaoru-Kun! Come play in the water! The water’s nice and cold, and the rocks aren’t uncomfortable to stand on!” Hagumi said, waving as Kaoru approached the three.
Kokoro enthusiastically nodded along with Hagumi’s words, “Yeah! It takes some getting used to but the water’s nice! If we sell it enough then Misaki will join in!” Kokoro said, whispering the last part.
Kaoru nodded along with the two, it would be fun to have Misaki join in on their antics. She barely let herself have fun and the idea of seeing Misaki smile and laugh was appealing to Kaoru, “The fleeting depth of your hearts… let us play and hope for Misaki to join us! I would enjoy that as well.” Kaoru said, taking off her shoes and rolling up her pant legs.
Kanon nodded, “J-Just don’t splash her too much you two. Or she’ll head back to the grass.” Kanon advised.
“Okie-Dokie! Can do, Kano-Chan-Senpai!” Hagumi said, giving Kanon a thumbs up.
Kaoru waded into the cold river water, it was refreshing after hiking in the heat for a while. The rocks weren’t spiky or uncomfortable to stand on and the waterfall was beautiful, what a fleeting moment and what a fleeting place.
“Surprised splash! Pew pew!” Kokoro’s voice chimed in before she smacked the water in front of Kaoru, sending a stream of water directly onto Kaoru’s shirt.
Kaoru looked down at Kokoro, who was sort of just staring at her. Kaoru let out a laugh, “I see you little kittens want to play. Well I will comply and do so, but I will not show mercy, you have been warned.” Kaoru said, bending over and splashing the blonde.
Kokoro let out a laugh, “Splash war! Splash war!”
“Splash war!” Hagumi yelled in agreement.
“H-Huuuuh?! Splash war? Guys! Ahh!” Kanon said, before promptly getting splashed in the face by Hagumi.
The splashes and laughing continued for a few minutes before the calm voice of Misaki cut in, “What’d I just say about you guys getting cold on the way back? Oh, well. I did warn you guys.” Misaki said, standing near the edge of the river, crossing her arms.
“Ah- Mii-Kun! The water’s so nice though, and Kokoro said we should have a splash war.” Hagumi said, tilting her head to the side.
“I can see that. I guess we can just hang your clothes out to dry later tonight, it’s gonna be hot tomorrow anyways.” Misaki said, shaking her head a bit.
“Yeah! That works! Misaki come play, you can be the admiral of the Kokoro side of this war! I’m the general and Hagumi is the general also, because we didn’t want to decide who the general was.” Kokoro said, raising both of her arms in the air.
“I’ll pass. I enjoy having dry clothes.” Misaki said, looking away from Kokoro.
“Aww… party pooper.” Hagumi said, pouting a bit.
Kaoru watched as Misaki glanced back at the group in the water, and then back at the bags. Did she really want to sit out of this or was she just indecisive? Misaki was a mystery to Kaoru, but she knew that she was prepared for whatever reaction Misaki was about to serve her. Kaoru leaned over again, cupped her hands in the water, and threw water in Misaki’s direction. The water hit Misaki’s knees, not hitting her clothes luckily.
“Misaki, dearest. I’d love to see that smile of yours. Come play with us, please?” Kaoru said, looking up at Misaki, who was in a current state of shock.
There was a moment of silence before Misaki’s pretty laugh came from her mouth, “You guys are such goofs? You know that right? Fine, prepare yourselves to get soaked.” Misaki said, taking off her shoes.
“Yay! Mii-Kun’s playing! Hooray!” Hagumi said cheerfully.
The whole band’s faces lit up in smiles, and everything felt good. That was the nice part of being in Hello, Happy World! There was never a dull moment, she never felt lost with the four. What a fleeting group of people.
-----
The rest of the hike had gone smoothly, and Misaki’s previous point of them getting cold in the car proved to be true, when the AC seemed to be too much for the added effect of their wet clothes. The five had quickly changed into secondary outfits, and the suits had taken the task of drying the garments.
The five had then proceeded to gather in the lounge room. Kokoro and Hagumi were bouncing around the lounge room from excitement after Hagumi had talked up the idea of sparklers and a campfire dinner.
“Mmmmm! I’m so excited! Why isn’t it the afternoon yet? I want it to get dark outside!” Kokoro said, peering out the window.
“It’s good that we haven’t reached dark yet because we’re nowhere near prepared for a campfire. Do any of you actually know how to start a fire?” Misaki said, leaning back on the couch side.
“I-I thought that we were going to have the suits do the preparations…” Kanon said, glancing over at Misaki.
“Well that would ruin the fun of a campfire, Kano-Chan-Senpai! The preparation is super fun! You get to cook and set up a pit and get a bunch of food ready! It’s super fun!” Hagumi said, turning to Kanon.
“O-Oh. Yeah that makes sense, I’ve never been to a campfire before…” Kanon said, fidgeting with her shirt.
“Which is why we should prepare now. It’s obvious that you guys want to play around today as well as do the campfire dinner so let’s get the prep out of the way. Let’s assign jobs and get this done fast and efficiently.” Misaki said, sitting up from her previous slouch on the couch.
“Ah, yes. Such jobs that would fit each of our skills would let us get preparations out of the way. What a wonderful idea, my dear Misaki.” Kaoru said, nodding in agreement.
Hagumi suddenly gave Kaoru this look and glanced back at Misaki before speaking up, “Kokoron and I were talking, and we want to maybe play around in the grass while the sun is setting, have some snacks beforehand, and then we can make dinner over the campfire! Then s’mores then sparklers!”
Misaki averted her attention from Kaoru to Hagumi, “Yeah that sounds good, let’s prepare some low effort snacks, the sparklers, and the campfire pit. Does anyone automatically want some jobs?” Misaki asked.
“Ooh! Ooh! I want to make croquettes for snacks!” Hagumi said, raising her hand up in the air.
“I could maybe make some iced tea for beverages… i-if that works though!” Kanon said, raising her hand as well.
“Alright, Kanon and Hagumi can take care of snacks. That works. I think it would be best if I set up the pit for the campfire, since I don’t trust most of you with fire. Mmm… Kaoru, Kokoro. Can you two go look for sparklers, tables, and chairs in the storage shed? You can help me with setting up later.” Misaki asked, looking over at the energetic blonde and Kaoru.
Kokoro shook her head up and down, “Mhm! Mhm! Yeah! That works right, Kaoru?!”
“Of course that will work! Anything to assist a little kitten in need.” Kaoru said, complacent with her assigned job.
“Alright. Now that everyone’s been assigned jobs, let’s work on those for like an hour and then we’ll all meet up here again to give each other progress reports.” Misaki instructed, nodding slightly.
After a chorus of agreements she felt the younger blonde tug on Kaoru’s shirt, “Let’s go and find the best sparklers to put a smile on everyone’s face!”
Kaoru nodded, “Energetic as always, Kokoro. Let us make zero delay and head to the shed as fast as our legs can take us. I would hate to keep Misaki waiting.” Kaoru said, glancing over as she saw the brunette walk out of the lounge room by herself.
Kokoro nodded enthusiastically and started speed walking out of the room. If it hadn’t been for Kaoru’s long legs she wouldn’t have been able to keep up with the ball of energy. Kokoro never seemed to lose her energy wherever she went, which made her a fitting leader of the band. She admired Kokoro for that and always wanted to do her best to keep the girl’s spirits high.
Kokoro ran out of the cabin and made her way to the shed, “Alright! From what I remember it’s really big and it’s really dusty! So we might have to do a bit of searching, but we should be fine.” Kokoro said, opening the shed door.
And Kokoro, had been right. The shed was indeed big, it was also, very very dusty. It looks like the Tsurumaki family didn’t use the shed often for recreational activities such as campfires, “Remember to look for chairs, tables, and sparklers, little kitten. Do you have any idea where we could acquire such items?” Kaoru asked, peering at the shelves stacked with boxes.
“Mmmm, I don’t really remember going in here much, but I think the chairs and tables are way in the back of the shed. And the sparklers should be in one of the boxes.” Kokoro said, putting a hand on her cheek.
“How about I venture to the back of the shed to grab some chairs, while you look for sparklers. I’m sure I would end up looking through the plethora of boxes for far too long.” Kaoru suggested, peering down at Kokoro.
“Sounds good to me!” Kokoro said, giving Kaoru a thumbs up, she proceeded to move to the first shelf, sorting through the boxes, looking for one labeled sparklers.
Kaoru made her way to the back of the dusty shed, it was pretty dark, and Kokoro had informed her that there was no light switch. She supposed that they’d just have to make use of the natural light streaming in through the open doorway instead.
Kaoru eventually found the back of the shed. Six chairs were propped up against the wall, along with two big tables. Luckily there was another door at the back of the shed, that apparently Kokoro had no knowledge of. Kaoru proceeded to move five select chairs out of the shed, before moving the two large tables. It wasn’t that high effort, she figured they’d have this job done in no time, and they could go and help Misaki soon enough.
Not that Kaoru was keen on helping out Misaki, she honestly just wanted to let this even run smoothly. It was key that she didn’t mix unnecessary emotions into daily tasks, she had to keep all little kittens happy, regardless if she’s genuinely kissed them or not. But that didn’t mean that she didn’t want to spend time with Misaki, she really did. Her best bet was to pull her aside later tonight, and they could chat again, that would be nice. Kaoru smiled slightly at the thought, brushing violet strands of hair out of her face.
Kaoru walked back to the front of the shed, where she saw Kokoro insistently sorting through boxes of random stuff, “Any luck, little kitten?” Kaoru asked, leaning over to look at the box Kokoro was sorting through.
“Nope! But I found a bunch of goofy glasses! Look this one says, ‘Surfs up!’ and it has a little surfer on it!” Kokoro said, holding up what appeared to be a pair of orange gaudy glasses, with a small surfer on it. Definitely not sparklers.
“Ah, what a wonderful discovery. Perhaps you’d like to set them aside for later?” Kaoru asked, as Kokoro held another pair up, one with two sharks hugging, with the phrase, ‘There’s some-fin special about you.’ on it.
Kokoro nodded, enthusiastically, “Mm-hmm! I think Hagumi would like them!” Kokoro said, humming a bit to herself, setting the box of sunglasses aside.
“You hold Hagumi close to your heart, I can tell. I’m sure she’ll love them.” Kaoru said, giving Kokoro a smile. Kaoru grabbed a few boxes off of the shelf and started searching for the sparklers as well, seeing as this was soon to become a two person job.
Kokoro nodded, once more, “Of course I do! Hagumi always makes me smile! So I want to do the same in exchange for her!” Kokoro said, grabbing another box.
Kokoro and Hagumi’s relationship had developed so naturally, from what Kaoru could tell. It was like they were made for each other, the two balls of energy had personalities that just bounced off of each other. They never tired of each other, and they seemingly never fought much. They got together about a year ago, and it wasn’t surprising when it happened. But since then the two had been a lot happier than they were before.
Kaoru tilted her head in thought, she wondered if she could ever have such a relationship. She wanted to, truthfully. She wanted to have someone to lean on, and to tell that she loved them every single day. She assumed that a lot of people wanted to have that ideal relationship, but was that attainable for her? Could she do that with someone? ...Could she do that with Misaki?
“Kaoru? You stopped sorting, what’s wrong?” Kokoro asked, taking notice in Kaoru’s pauses.
“Ah! I was lost in thought, I hope you’ll forgive me dear kitten. It’s hard not to think of the endless possibilities of this existence when you have a fleeting brain such as mine.” Kaoru said, picking up another box and sorting through it.
“Really? Well, what were you thinking about?” Kokoro asked.
“Ah…” Kaoru wasn’t sure if she should tell Kokoro that she was thinking of having a domestic relationship with Misaki, as she didn’t know how well that would go over, “I was wondering, how did you and Hagumi initially get together. The formation of your mutual love was never fully explained to me.”
“Oh? Really? Well Hagumi and I were hanging out, and I think we were eating croquettes or something… and we were talking. And then Hagumi said that she wished she could spend every moment of the day with me. And that made me super happy! And so I said, we could spend more time together if we started dating! And she said yes! I was super happy that day and so was Hagumi. Hagumi always makes me happy, so I’m glad I’m with her!” Kokoro said with a big smile on her face, “Why do you ask?”
“Oh, I was just curious. It’s good to see my little kittens so happy though. I’m glad you’re happy.” Kaoru said, smiling slightly. That made sense surprisingly.
“Oh! Kaoru! I found the sparklers!” Kokoro said, holding up a box full of sparklers, “We’re lucky we could’ve been looking for a long time.”
‘Hagumi always makes me happy, so I’m glad I’m with her!’
Yeah that made perfect sense.
-----
Preparations went smoothly as expected. After finding the sparklers and furniture, they were able to set it up near a fire pit that Misaki had managed to set up. Kanon and Hagumi had done a sufficient job of providing snacks and refreshments, and the sun had already started to set. There wasn’t a single bump or mishap in the set up, which seemed to relieve Misaki a considerable amount.
“S-So you just flick it like- Fueee!” Kanon yelped, at the sudden emission of fire that had appeared from the lighter she was holding.
Misaki, Kanon, and Kaoru herself had been engaged in the uphill battle that was lighting up the campfire. First they had forgotten the lighter fluid, and then they didn’t have the correct kindling, and now they were trying to figure out how to properly light the fire. Kanon was in possession of the lighter, but turning on the lighter would send the blue haired girl into a panic.
“Ah! You had it! You just have to keep your finger on the button, Kanon.” Misaki said, taking notice of the small flame that had emitted from the device.
“I-I know… it’s just scary when you first turn it on….” Kanon said, sighing.
“Don’t worry about such things, little kitten. You know where to light it, and how to light the fire, you’re qualified enough to do this task. Have some confidence and take the first step!” Kaoru said, trying to uplift Kanon’s spirits.
“Kaoru’s right, plus it’s gonna get cold soon, and I don’t want to navigate through that maze of a cabin to get a sweater.” Misaki pointed out, ever the realist.
“R-Right.” Kanon said, holding the lighter up to the bottom of the kindling and hitting the small blue button on the device. And with success she started a small flame at the bottom of the pit, “A-Ah! I did it. I think I can handle watching the f-fire, Misaki. You two should go make sure that Kokoro and Hagumi are doing okay..” Kanon said with a small smile.
“Right. Let’s hope they haven’t set something on fire as well.” Misaki said with a small laugh, “C’mon Kaoru- ah Kanon, do you want us to grab you some tea?”
“O-Oh! Tea would be nice…” Kanon said, tilting her head to the side.
“Yes! We shall retrieve you some tea while checking on Kokoro and Hagumi! Let us be quick, my dear Misaki.” Kaoru said, holding her hand out to Misaki.
Kaoru noticed the pink tinge on Misaki’s cheeks and she took Kaoru’s hand, “Yell if you need anything, Kanon.”
“A-Alright! Thank you Misaki, Kaoru.” Kanon said, giving them another small smile.
Kaoru led Misaki off towards where they set up a few tables, displaying croquettes and iced tea. They were going to apparently roast hot dogs, and s’mores later. Which… Kaoru had never done, but there was a first time for everything, she supposed.
“Hmmm… Where are those two?” Misaki muttered under her breath, glancing around the area. Surprisingly, Misaki hadn’t let go of her hand yet, she had expected Misaki to pull away in embarrassment.
Kokoro and Hagumi had run off after Hagumi had finished making the croquettes. What they were doing was honestly a mystery to Kaoru herself.
“Shall we go make Kanon’s tea before searching for those two?” Kaoru suggested, glancing down at the shorter girl.
“Yeah, probably.” Misaki said, looking back at Kaoru.
Kaoru didn’t know if it was the lighting or the fact that the two were alone once again, but Misaki looked very pretty. She always looked pretty, but the way her brown hair was framing her face, and how the sun illuminated her rosy cheeks, it brought out her external beauty perfectly.
“Hey, Earth to Kaoru.” A hand was suddenly waving in front of Kaoru’s face, oh yeah, she was still interacting with someone.
“Ah- My apologies. I was deep in thought, what is it, my dear?” Kaoru asked, feeling the restless butterflies in her stomach swarm around.
“I was asking if I could have my right hand back. Kind of need two to make iced tea.” Misaki said, gesturing to their two hands, still locked together.
Kaoru felt her cheeks get hot, “Yes of course, kitten. I’m sorry I’ve preoccupied your time with such gestures.”
Misaki laughed a bit, under her breath, “It’s fine.” She said, smiling as she poured the chilled tea on the table into a plastic cup.
“Mii-Kun! Kaoru-Kun!” Hagumi’s chipper voice called out suddenly, breaking the silence.
Hagumi ran up to the table, emerging from a grove of pine trees, she looked out of breath, but a smile remained on her face. “Hi! Kokoron and I are playing tag in those trees! Just call if you need us!” Hagumi grabbed a croquette, and then gave her a weird look, “You guys seem to be hanging out a lot-”
“Hagumi!!” Kokoro yelled, running out from the same grove of trees.
“Ahh! Gotta go! Bye, Mii-Kun! Kaoru-Kun!” Hagumi said, sprinting off, Kokoro fast on her trail.
“Well, now we know where they are.” Misaki said, shrugging.
“So, when should we start eating dinner?” Kaoru asked, staring down at the brunette.
“Mmm… I think we could give it like a few more minutes, the sun is almost down so it’d be a good idea to start soon.” Misaki said, picking up the cup of tea, “Let’s head back to Kanon.”
-----
“Waah! My hot dog fell again! Mii-Kun! Mii-kun! I need a new hot dog!” Hagumi said, after dropping another hot dog into the now persistent fire in front of the group.
“Again?! Jeez, you have to put the hot dog in more securely. Let me do it this time.” Misaki said, pulling out the pack of hot dogs.
The sun had set eventually and Misaki had deemed it time to roast hot dogs. Kokoro seemed to be doing fine with her roasting, Kanon had only dropped a hot dog into the fire once out of clumsiness, Hagumi had dropped three hot dogs so far, and Misaki hadn’t even started to roast her hot dog. Kaoru was doing just fine, but since they were already running low on hot dogs, Kaoru wanted to take care of hers.
“H-Hagumi, you have to center the hot dog more on the stick or the hot dog’s skin br-breaks.” Kanon instructed, “That’s what happened to mine before.”
“Ooh! That makes sense! You’re so smart Kano-Chan-Senpai!” Hagumi said with a grin.
Misaki successfully spiked Hagumi’s fourth hot dog on her stick and returned it to the ginger, “Try not to drop it this time.”
“I won’t let you down Mii-Kun!” Hagumi said, giving her a thumbs up.
Everyone seemed to be having fun. Which was good, the only thing Kaoru wanted was to see all the little kittens with smiles on their faces. Better watch her hot dog though, Misaki went on a huge rant earlier about how if they left it in too long the hot dogs would burn.
“Oh! What do you do when yours is done, Misaki?” Kokoro asked, looking up from the fire.
“Ah yes, I believe mine is about done as well.” Kaoru said, noticing the previously pink covering of the hot dog turning a golden brown color.
“Oh- already? Okay, here, plates. Pull the skewers out of the fire, and use a paper towel to pull the hot dogs off of the skewer and onto the plate, I’ll give you some buns when you’re done.” Misaki said, grabbing two paper plates and handing them to Kokoro and Kaoru.
“Why thank you, Misaki. Helpful as always I see.” Kaoru said, gingerly taking the plate from Misaki’s hand. She removed her skewer from the fire and did what Misaki instructed with much success. Kokoro seemed to have an equal level of success as well.
And so, the five continued to jump through the hurdles of making hot dogs over a fire. While the journey was treacherous and a few hot dogs were sacrificed...But they eventually were able to eat their dinner in peace. Now it was time for the much more fearsome task of making s’mores, a quest that very few in their group had ever attempted.
“This should be easier than hot dogs, because marshmallows aren’t very slippery. Just tell me when you need a plate to put the marshmallow on.” Misaki had instructed.
Oh how wrong she had been. So many marshmallows… so many marshmallows had been sacrificed to the hell fire that was this campfire. One by one the marshmallows fell into the fire as Kanon clumsily tried to put a marshmallow on a skewer, as Hagumi’s attention was averted after Kokoro touched her shoulder, as Kaoru recited a verse from the text’s of the Great Bard.
Eventually, Misaki had decided to just make all of the marshmallows for everyone. Which turned out to be a lot easier than everyone individually doing it.
“Is it true you’ve never had a s’more, Kokoron?” Hagumi asked, taking a bite of her s’more.
“Nope! This is my first time! They’re so yummy though~! They’re sweet and crunchy like a croquette!” Kokoro said, giving Hagumi a bright smile.
“That’s what I was thinking!” Hagumi said, returning the smile.
“Th-Those two are on the same wavelength I swear…” Kanon said, taking a small bite of her own s’more.
Misaki laughed a bit, finishing her s’more with a few quick bites, “You’ve got that right, Kanon.”
Kaoru was able to finish the small desert up pretty fast, they were good as she suspected. What a fun experience.
“Oh. Kaoru.” Misaki was suddenly next to Kaoru holding a napkin, “You have marshmallow on your cheek, let me get it.”
“Ah, I’m sure I can-” Too late as Misaki’s gently wiped off the marshmallow on Kaoru’s face.
“There we go, I didn’t know you were a sloppy eater, Kaoru.” Misaki teased, throwing away the napkin.
Kaoru laughed a bit, “Ah, the fleeting depths of your heart Misaki. You’re always looking out for me.” Kaoru smiled.
“Aww~!” Hagumi’s voice said from across the campfire.
Silence.
Hagumi paused and then her face lit up with panic and confusion, “Aww…. A squirrel! Kokoron I saw a squirrel over there!” Hagumi said, pointing into the grove of trees.
“Really?! I want to go see it!” Kokoro said, setting down a napkin, already raring to go.
“Ahh- If you guys are going to run around, we better get the sparklers out now or never.” Misaki said, turning away from Kaoru to grab two sparklers, lighting them up, and handing them to the two energetic balls of energy, “Try not to drop them.”
“Right!” The two said in unison as they ran off.
“I’ll go make sure those two d-don’t get into too much trouble..” Kanon said, lighting herself a sparkler as well, and walking off in Kokoro and Hagumi’s direction.
In the absence of the three’s presence, the sudden awkwardness had decided to make itself known in the area.
“Sometimes it feels like babysitting with those two.” Misaki said with a small laugh.
Kaoru glanced down at the brunette, “But you still enjoy their presence, do you not?”
“Well of course I do. Hello, Happy World! Is an important part of my life. And so are all of you, Kokoro and Hagumi are always pleasant to be around despite their quirks.” Misaki said, setting her chin into one of her palms, “Sorry if I embarrassed you when I wiped your mouth.”
Oh, we’re talking about that now? Kaoru laughed, “It’s alright, I wasn’t embarrassed in the slightest. I see that this caring nature carries on to everyone you meet? That’s very admirable Misaki.”
“It really isn’t. At least today went well. Wouldn’t you agree?” Misaki asked, her hand traveling over to rest on Kaoru’s.
Kaoru glanced down at Misaki’s hand, and back at Misaki, “Yes, today was very fun. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
Misaki smiled, “What if I told you there was more marshmallow on your cheek? Would you believe me?”
“Oh, is there? I wasn’t aware.” Kaoru said, letting her free hand touch her own cheek.
“No, but pretend there is.” Misaki said, leaning her head upwards as she lay a small kiss on Kaoru’s cheek.
Today was a good day, one to write down in the books. Such fleeting days needed to be remembered.